Two Upcoming Events: "Anora" & "It's Always Fair Weather"
Plus, for paid subscribers, my WaPo reviews of "Anora," "Emilia Pérez" and Clint Eastwood's "Juror #2"
The last time I did one of my monthly "Ty Burr's Film Club" events at the West Newton Cinema, some people (okay, personal friends) complained I didn't give them enough lead time. Fair enough: I'll be involved with two screenings/ discussions next week, so if either or both of the following floats your boat, be sure to mark your calendars.
On Sunday afternoon, November 10, at 12:30 p.m., the West Newton will screen Sean Baker's acclaimed new comedy-drama "Anora" (see my ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2 review following the paywall below, along with my other most recent WaPo reviews), about a New York City stripper (the wonderful Mikey Madison) involved with the son (Mark Eydelshteyn) of a Russian oligarch. A panel discussion will immediately follow moderated by yours truly and featuring Lisa Goldblatt Grace, Co-Executive Director of My Life My Choice, a national organization fighting the commercial sexual exploitation of children, and Professor Malcolm Turvey, founding Director of Tufts University’s Film and Media Studies Program and a distinguished scholar of film theory and aesthetics. Tickets can be purchased at the theater's website or at the box office.
And on Thursday, November 14, 6 p.m., the latest Movie Club screening will feature "It's Always Fair Weather" (1955, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐), my favorite MGM musical that isn't "Singin' in the Rain" and a movie I have been buttonholing people to recommend they watch for decades now. (I most recently wrote about it here.) If “Singin’ in the Rain” is regarded as the high-water mark of the form, this reunion of star Gene Kelly and director Stanley Donen is the studio’s best-kept secret. Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd play three ex-GIs pals who meet up ten years after WWII and discover they can’t stand each other — until a “This Is Your Life” TV producer (Cyd Charisse) gets them on national television. Bring the kids: The movie's a delightful discovery with four of the most eye popping song-and-dance numbers you’ll ever see, among which is Gene Kelly tap-dancing on roller skates — enough said.
